


Scarcity (Voltron/Shore Leave)

by Ebhenah



Series: Fictober 2018 [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adam and Shiro Break-Up, Galaxy Garrison, M/M, Past Adam/Shiro (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 08:28:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16678105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ebhenah/pseuds/Ebhenah
Summary: #Fictober18 Day 5Prompt: "Take what you need."Voltron Fanfiction. S07 spoilers. Angst.Keith pov, Garrison Days, Adam/Shiro splitRating: T- some language, discussion of same sex relationship, mentions of foster care, death, illness, broken homes.





	Scarcity (Voltron/Shore Leave)

Break-ups SUCKED, Keith was discovering. Even when you weren't part of the couple that split. Even when the break-up was 'civil' and 'mature' and 'mutual'.

At first, he thought the end of the fighting was a good thing. He didn't know then that it would be replaced by this... thick silence that crowded everything else out. He didn't know then that it would mean that the animated, expressive faces he'd learned to love and trust would become cold and brittle- even with him, even though he had NOTHING to do with any of this. He didn't know then that it meant day to day life would consist of one leaving the room as soon as the other entered, blankets and pillows stacked at the edge of the couch every morning and every night, waiting to be put to use again. He didn't know then that one person just LOOKING at the other formed some kind of wall between them until the whole place felt like it was criss-crossed with trip wires. One wrong word, one wrong step likely to set off an explosion of... pain that ripped everyone apart again.

Like, the dishes. That one was his fault, which somehow made it worse. Adam had asked him to wash up after lunch, and he'd been planning to. But Shiro didn't eat when they ate, so he thought he'd just wait until he had finished and do all the dishes at once... and then he'd just forgotten about it until he'd heard the 'we aren't yelling' from his room. He still wasn't sure how a few dishes in the sink led to anger and hurt accusations of selfishness and lack of support and digs about parents and closets and responsibilities. But it had... and they'd gone silent when he came into the room and filled the sink, hoping to diffuse some of the tension. They'd stayed pretty much silent, just staring at each other with eyes that seemed to hold the weight of the world. Adam had thanked him. Shiro had asked about class. Neither had pursued a conversation after his curt responses.

It didn't feel like THEM anymore. It didn't feel like home anymore. It felt like just another shitty foster home surrounded by strangers who tolerated his presence out of obligation. At least they weren't trying to make him pick sides. He'd heard that happened a lot. But then, why would they? Shiro had been the one to reach out to him. He'd been the one to start the process of becoming a foster parent. He'd been the one to get him into the Garrison Academy. The one to vouch for him. To show up and fight for him whenever things fell apart. To remind him that there was still fun to be had, adventures to take, things to look forward to beyond survival. It seemed pretty obvious that they expected him to side with Shiro, always.

But, Adam had been the one to download a ton of Korean music when he'd mentioned that he couldn't really remember much except baby-talk, so he could still hear the language of his early years and maybe not lose any more of it than he already had. Adam had been the one to teach him how to cook the few things he could make. Adam had been the one to book his dentist appointments, and spend an hour every evening helping him get his reading levels up to par when he struggled with the Garrison curriculum. He'd been the one make them do all those STUPID 'family outings'- karaoke nights, trips to the little pottery place to paint plates and shit, art classes, apple picking, pumpkin carving, Farmer's Market shopping, trips to the amusement park, to the pool, to the movies. He'd been the one sit with him and explain everything that was happening that first time Shiro had ended up in the hospital. He'd been the one who drove Keith out to his father's grave, at first when Keith asked, but then, later, he'd learned how to tell when Keith needed that... and he'd been the one to start donating to charities supporting First Responders in his father's name.

Shiro had forged the path, but Adam was the one that had made it feel safe to walk it... and now it was like that path was filled with unexpected pot holes and loose ground and low-hanging thorny branches. He didn't feel safe here anymore. The people he thought he knew so well were gone, replaced by brittle, hurting ghosts of a family that he could barely recognize, and he could feel it coming back. He could feel the rage and hurt and distrust clawing its way back into his heart- just when he'd started to think it might be gone for good.

It had taken him months to be willing to ask for seconds when they all ate dinner together. Terrified that if he wanted too much, asked for too much, needed too much they'd decide he needed more than they were willing to spare. That he was too much of a burden. Too much work. He'd been so scared to accept what they offered. Food. Clothes. Shelter. Friendship. Trust. Family. LOVE. But they hadn't given up on him. They'd stuck around- even when he was trying his hardest to push them away before they could abandon him. They'd worn him down with their dorky jokes, and their'get a room' flirting, and cheesy pet names, and hair musses, and board game nights, and random movie quotes, and giggling stolen kisses when they thought he wasn't paying attention.

'This is our life,' they'd shown him, day after day after day, 'it's good. It's safe. It's warm, and happy, and we want you in it.' And somehow, somewhere along the way, he'd started to believe them, to trust them, to COUNT ON THEM.

And it had been GOOD. It really had. "Love is an endless resource," Adam had said to him once, when he'd been going through a break-up of his own (which ALSO sucked, but not like this). "Love never runs out. So, when you are hurting. When you need it, don't be shy. Just, take what you need. There will always be more."

Except, that wasn't true anymore. They might both still love him. They DEFINITELY still loved each other, that was the really stupid thing- it was SO obvious they still loved each other... but the whole 'endless resource', thing? Clearly bullshit. Because the love in this house was scarce, and weak, and unreliable.

So, yeah... Break-ups SUCKED.


End file.
